Kochi, Aug 13 (PTI) Two Union Ministers — Suresh Gopi and George Kurian — visited the family of a 23-year-old woman in Kothamangalam on Wednesday, who allegedly took her own life, reportedly due to harassment by her lover, a day after the party described it as the “biggest example of forced religious conversion.” They also met the family, who are demanding that an NIA probe be launched into the incident, as Sona Eldhose is said to have ended her life after her lover, Rameez, and his family allegedly made coercive attempts to convert her to Islam.
The visit by Gopi and Kurian, who have come under attack from the Congress and CPI(M) for their alleged long silence on the recent attack on nuns in Chhattisgarh by Bajrang Dal activists, also assumes political significance after the influential Syro-Malabar Church backed the family’s demand for an NIA probe into the incident.
A Syro-Malabar Church official said it viewed the matter with “great seriousness”.
Fr James Kokkavayalil, Secretary of the Public Affairs Commission of the Syro-Malabar Church, also alleged that there were suspected extremist links in the case, claiming the victim had been taken to Panayikkulam — which has previously been in the news for extremist activities — and tortured there.
After visiting the family, Kurian, the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said the investigation had not yet reached a stage “warranting an NIA probe”.
He added that there was a set procedure for initiating a National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation. The FIR currently records the case as an “unnatural death” following harassment by her lover. “If other legal provisions are added during the probe, the matter can be examined later,” he said.
Gopi, who also met the family, reportedly offered all possible assistance.
In a petition to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, the victim’s mother, Bindu A K, sought an NIA probe, alleging her daughter had been the victim of coercive attempts to convert her to another religion.
She claimed that the accused, Rameez, had tried to force her daughter to convert, and suggested his actions could be linked to “extremist networks”.
Sona Eldhose died by suicide at her residence on 9 August. A note left behind stated that she ended her life due to “continued harassment” from her lover and his relatives.
The BJP on Tuesday organised a march to the Kothamangalam police station under the leadership of party leader P C George, demanding justice for the woman’s family and describing her as the latest victim of “love jihad” — a term used by right-wing activists to allege the luring of non-Muslim women into relationships or marriages under the guise of love.
Another BJP leader, B Gopalakrishnan, called it “the biggest example of forced religious conversion” and urged Christian churches to speak out so that “Christian girls do not have to go through the same experience.” The case is currently under investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is examining all angles, including abetment of suicide and rape, police sources said. PTI MVG TGB ROH
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